Markings for Fw 190A-2 1/48
WNr. 0125228, Ofw. Erwin Leibold, Stab I./JG 26, St. Omer-Arques, France, July 1942
German Jagdgeschwader 26 ace Erwin Leibold achieved his 11th and final kill in the afternoon of July 12, 1942, when he shot down a reconnaissance Mosquito PR Mk.II over Licques in France, which was on a mission to photograph Strasbourg and Ingolstadt. Both British crewmen died. The fate of their conqueror was sealed only two weeks later when Ofw. Leibold took part in I./JG 26 attacks against the Biggin Hill Wing, operating over France. The aircraft flown by Leibold, flying as wingman of the Gruppe CO Hptm. Seifert, exploded after being intercepted by a Spitfire. The pilot was spotted on parachute, but a search for him turned up nothing. The aircraft assigned to Staff I. Gruppe sported standard camouflage, but they were marked in a non-standard way, with letters or initials of their pilots. The letter “L” (Leibold) was complemented with the designation of the aircraft within the Staffel in the form of a chevron and carried eleven kill marks on the yellow rudder.
WNr. 0125281, Oblt. Siegfried Schnell, CO of 9./JG 2, Théville, France, June 1942
Siegfried “Wumm” Schnell, a native of today’s Polish Sulecin (then Zeilenzig in Brandenburg) joined the ranks of the Luftwaffe in 1936 and at the beginning of the Second World War he served with JG 2. He achieved his first kill over France on May 14, 1940, others followed over Britain and against English and American pilots over Western Europe. After being assigned to JG 54, he first served with its III. Gruppe, before being promoted as CO of IV. Gruppe on February 1, 1944. While serving as Commanding Officer he was shot down on February 25, 1944, over Narva by a Soviet fighter. This proved to be a fateful encounter for him. For his combat results, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves on July 9, 1941. During Second World War he downed 93 enemy aircraft. The Fw 190A-2 flown by Oblt. Schnell carried the standard camouflage scheme applied to Luftwaffe fighters consisting of RLM 74/75/76. The yellow rudder carried 64 kill markings. The sides of the fuselage and engine cowl carried the so-called “Adlerflügel”.
WNr. 0122125, Oblt. Max Buchholz, CO of 5./JG 1, Katwijk, the Netherlands, Summer 1942
Max Bucholz was born on November 3, 1912, in Zerbst and at the beginning of the war he served with Jagdgeschwader 3. With this unit, he saw combat over France and over Great Britain as well as during Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union). At the beginning of October 1941, I./JG 3 was sent for some R and R to Germany. After that, it was moved to the Netherlands and on January 6, 1942, the unit was redesignated II./JG 1. Oblt. Bucholz was given command of its 6. Staffel. On February 12, 1942, he gained his 28th victory in a mission to cover the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which, together with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, sailed from Brest to German harbors. From the middle of the year up to the end of the war Bucholz served in administrative duties. He died on July 19, 1996, in Germany. The tip of the red spinner of Bucholz’s aircraft carried a thin white spiral and otherwise was camouflaged in RLM 74/75/76. The marking of the Commander of the 5. Staffel in the form of a black numeral was supplemented by the II. Gruppe insignia (the horizontal bar in the Staffel color), and also by the personal marking of the gull in flight below the cockpit. The engine cowl bears the red “Tatzelwurm” – the 5./JG 1 badge.
WNr. 0125310, Hptm. Josef Priller, CO of III./JG 26, Wevelghem, Belgium, June 1942
Josef “Pips” Priller was born on July 27, 1915, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. In 1935, he joined Wehrmacht and as soon as a year later, in October 1936, he started to attend the fighter pilot training. He achieved his first aerial victory as a commander of 6. Staffel JG 51 when he downed a Spitfire above Dunkerque on May 28, 1940. In November 1940, he was appointed a commander of the 1./JG 26. On December 6, 1941, he became commander of III./JG 26 and from January 11, 1943, he lead the whole Jagdgeschwader 26. His number of victories kept growing and on December 20, 1941, his success was rewarded and Priller was decorated with Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. On January 28, 1945, he was appointed Inspekteur der Jagdflieger Ost, where he remained till the end of WWII. Priller’s total score was 101 victories over enemy aircraft. All of them were achieved in the Western Front. After the War Priller married Johanna Riegele, the proprietor of a brewery and became general manager of Riegele brewery in Augsburg, Germany. He died of heart attack on May 20, 1961. This aircraft was flown by Josef Priller in June 1942. It sported the standard camouflage scheme for Luftwaffe fighters and had yellow rudder and bottom part of the engine cowl. It also carried the marking for the CO of the III. Gruppe. The tail carried 73 kill markings, Priller’s tally to June 1, 1942.
Oblt. Egon Mayer, CO of 7./JG 2, Théville, France, Summer 1942
Egon Mayer was born on August 19, 1917, in Konstanz and he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. In December 1939, he was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 2 after the training and served with this unit though the French campaign and into the Battle of Britain. From June 10, 1941, he became CO of the 7. Staffel and the CO of the entire III. Gruppe from November 1942. By that time, he had accumulated 52 victories. On November 23, he brought down his first American four-engine heavy bomber. Together with George-Peter Eder, he was developing tactics of head on attacks against American bomber formations. On July 1, 1943, he was made Commanding Officer of the entire JG 2. On March 2, 1944, Mayer led a formation of JG 2 fighters in an intercept of American bombers over Montmédy and was shot down and killed by escorting P-47s. He was posthumously awarded the Sword to his Knight’s Cross. The 7. Staffel JG 2 badge was carried on the cowling of this standard-camouflaged Fw 190. The yellow rudder carried 44 kill marks in the form of French and British roundels. The former markings of the aircraft were sprayed over with RLM 74 Graugrün.